Yemeni government launches air strikes on Houthi positions

Yemeni rights group accuses the Houthis of killing five civilians and injuring more than a dozen others.

Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government say they have carried out a series of air strikes on Houthi positions and military equipment in the country’s southwest.

A total of nine air strikes were conducted in Taiz governorate on Tuesday, including five in Dhubab district and four in al-Masrakh district, the government said.

According to the Taiz Military Axis Media Center, affiliated with the Ministry of Defence, fighting is ongoing between government forces and the Houthis in al-Shaqab, south of Taiz.

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedom said on Tuesday that the Houthis had killed at least five civilians, including a five-year-old girl in Taiz during the previous 24 hours and injured 17 others.

The organisation accused the Houthis of shelling residential neighbourhoods, damaging at least seven homes. It also alleged that the group had fired more than 180 projectiles across Taiz during the previous 24 hours.

The war in Yemen erupted in 2014 when the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), seized the capital Sanaa and forced the government to flee.

An international military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in support of the internationally recognised government in 2015, leading to years of fighting between the warring sides.

A 2022 UN-backed truce halted most fighting, but tensions have been high in Yemen since the Iran-aligned Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabian ports and shipping passing through the Bab al-Mandeb strait in July.

In September, the Houthis carried out a lightning ground offensive on Mocha, pushing back forces loyal to Yemen’s government from the strategic port city. The same month, the group’s forces again swept through and seized territory along the western coast and the Bab al-Mandeb strait, including the strategically located Mayyun Island in the strait.

As the fighting in Yemen continues to rage, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, warned that civilians across the Middle East are bearing the brunt of escalating hostilities and has called for all parties to de-escalate.

“Civilians are paying an unacceptable price as a result of military operations in the Middle East,” Spoljaric said in a statement.

“In Yemen, the scale of death, displacement and damage to civilian infrastructure, including in Aden and Sanaa, is mounting at an alarming rate. Across the Middle East, civilian infrastructure has repeatedly been hit and lives have been lost,” she said.

At least 46 civilians have been killed and more than 130 others injured in Yemen since August, many of them children, according to the United Nations.

More than 200,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since September, according to the UN’s migration agency (IOM).

As the fighting in Yemen has escalated, the Houthis have carried out a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia’s airports and oil facilities. At least 14 people were killed in separate Houthi missile attacks on King Khalid airport in Riyadh over the weekend, drawing widespread international condemnation.

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister promised the kingdom would carry out a “serious response” to the attacks.

Several airlines have cancelled flights to Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries in response to Houthi attacks. These carriers include Qatar Airways and Emirates, the United Arab Emirates’ flagship carrier.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) on Tuesday about regional issues. Merz told MBS that Iran must engage in serious negotiations and accused Tehran of destabilising the region.

Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has met Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi. Abdelatty said in a post on X that “Gulf security is integral to Egypt’s national security”.

Abdelatty also spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, and urged an immediate halt to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Although Tehran provides the Houthis with crucial financial and military support, several analysts suggest that Iran holds little sway over the group.